1984 is the futuristic vision of George Orwell, an English novelist who in 1948 envisioned a horrifying but realistic picture of what could happen politically ... in the then far off year of 1984. Its power doesn't reside in its exact predictive ideas, nor in its association with any certain political leaders of the day. Rather, its strength is its portrayal of how power can be an end in itself for some people and how we can begin to recognize that underneath very dissimilar systems, power...ultimate power... resides in the hands of not-so-fictional men of today. Orwell's words were and still are a warning...that form does not matter when it comes to the ability of "power-as-an-end" to control and shape human beings.

The year is 1984, the world is controlled by three superstates... Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. World War II is over and so are the atomic wars which followed. The world has been divided up to ensure the survival of Power, the democracies have gone the way of nickel beer...as have the capitalists who once thought that they ruled the world. The setting is the city of Airstrip One (formerly London) in Oceania. Its ruler is Big Brother, chief officer of The Party and whose picture is everywhere...symbolically watching everyone. Nobody knows if he is real or fictional...and those who do, aren't telling. The Party makes up 15% of the 300 million population of Oceania, with the remaining 85% called the proles. They are a poverty ridden and deprived lot who live in the ruins of bombed out old London...in a section of the city forbidden to Party members. Their chief interests are the lottery, pornography, and cheap gin. The Party itself is stratified into the Outer Party (13%) and the Inner Party (2%)...who do the actual ruling. The Outer Party members are its functionaries whose existence is actually little better than the proles.

The main characters are Winston, an Outer Party member who works in the Ministry of Truth (creating lies)...Julia, also an Outer Party member working in the Anti-Sex League...and O'Brien...an Inner Party member near the top of the Ministry of Love (where hate and torture prevail). Reading and writing are strictly forbidden among many other things. History is constantly being rewritten to suit the needs of The Party. Love is forbidden...as well as sex . Winston and Julia decide to risk rebellion...thinking there is an underground movement called the Brotherhood...headed by Big Brother's chief rival, Goldstein...who will take them in. They think O'Brien is in this organization, but are tricked by him and others...captured and tortured and finally...rehabilitated...and presumably eventually shot, as promised.

This is the story of a few days and weeks in the lives of certain and all people of Oceania...which, coincidently, is constantly at war ...supposedly...with either Eastasia or Eurasia...it matters not which one because The Party changes it periodically anyway. Winston has constant flashbacks and flash-forwards throughout his life. His "sin" is he can actually remember a time before The Party. His (& Julia's) "fate" is Room 101 (representing our personal greatest fear) in the Ministry of Love...where they learn to "love Big Brother."

It is a dingy picture of a dingy time in a dingy future. Power is the only constant and the constant "present" is the only power. There are no laws...hence, there are no crimes...except what The Party says. Power... now...is the only reality and it can be and is exercised for its own sake. There is no "hope" at the end...warnings such as Orwell's are usually about dire straits, not hope. Yet, our awareness of this...is a hope itself!